Jack Kerouac

I didn't know who this man was until I was looking at my sister's facebook. According to wikipedia, Jack Kerouac was:

(March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, and artist. Along with William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is amongst the best known of the writers (and friends) known as the Beat Generation.

Kerouac's work was popular, but received little critical acclaim during his lifetime. Today, he is considered an important and influential writer who inspired others, including Tom Robbins, Lester Bangs, Richard Brautigan, and Ken Kesey, and writers of the New Journalism. Kerouac also influenced musicians such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Morrissey, Tom Waits, Simon & Garfunkel, and Jim Morrison.[1] Kerouac's best-known books are On the Road, The Dharma Bums,Big Sur, and Visions of Cody.

Kerouac spent many of the years between 1947 and 1951 on the road, although he often spent extended periods at his mother's home and in the Florida home he purchased for her.

Kerouac's search for a life worth living in the 1950's led him to recreational drug use and to travel, not only across the North America but throughout the world. His writing is credited as catalyst for the 1960s counterculture.

My sister had this quote up on her facebook & I loved it. It reminded me of myself, all of you & others I have come across & loved in my life. Cheers.

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!” -Jack Kerouac

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That is a beautiful passage from ON THE ROAD. It sums up his work, and philosophy perfectly. Too bad he died from drinking far too much.<br />My fave-rave of his is the DHARMA BUMS/DESOLATION ANGELS tandem. The latter takes up where the former leaves off, like a prose-poem travelogue.<br />The chapters that take place when he was a fire-watcher up in the mountains, and sober, are brilliant. He could combine multiple writing styles and make it seamless.<br />See the bio-document WHAT HAPPENED TO KEROUAC.